Scotland Raid Nets 14 Pirates

Fourteen people were arrested and &#163;1 million ($1.82) worth of counterfeit product was seized yesterday during a multi-agency raid on Paddy's Market, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Fourteen people were arrested and £1 million ($1.82 million) worth of counterfeit product was seized yesterday during a multi-agency raid on Paddy's Market, in Glasgow, Scotland.

The British Transport Police, which owns the land on which the markets are situated, was involved in the operation along with Strathclyde Police, the Department for Work & Pensions, Glasgow Trading Standards and investigators from industry bodies the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), and games trade body ELSPA.

Yesterday's operation marked the third raid in two months on the venue, which the BPI describes as one of the United Kingdom's "most notorious piracy hotspots."

According to the BPI, nine of the arrested traders are being questioned over benefit fraud and all suspects will be reported for infringements under the Copyright and Trademarks Act. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of 10-years imprisonment.

"This is yet another example of what can be achieved through a multi-agency approach to tackling piracy," comments David Martin, director of the BPI's anti-piracy unit. "These counterfeiters are career criminals who rip off both the music industry and the taxpayer. Thankfully government, Trading Standards and police are becoming increasingly aware of this fact and are moving decisively to tackle the problem," he says.

The British government's Patent Office last week unveiled a national strategy to crack down on intellectual property theft through a co-ordinated approach involving brand owners, customs, police and trading standards officials nationwide.